Jul 19 Even Nancy Cross Thinks Carl Bimel is Doing His Part

If you've been dragging your feet on donating to the Purdue athletic department and have been feeling lousy about it, well, Carl Bimel is picking up the slack for you. He just donated $2 million to Purdue football.

Mr. Bimel has been a Purdue fan for almost 85 years. He attended his first game in 1928 (a season in which the Boilers went 5-2-1 with five shutouts) and then attended Purdue in the '40s. Bimel was one of the original 32 members of the John Purdue Club in 1950.

In several stories, Bimel as quoted as follows:

"I have loved Purdue University and Boilermaker Football for as long as I can remember. In my lifetime, I have only had one wife and one football team. My intent with this gift is to do my part to help my team remain competitive in the Big Ten Conference and on the national level. I have full confidence in the leadership of the athletics department and the football program that the money will be used in areas identified within the Purdue Football 'Next Step' initiative to have the greatest impact for my Boilermakers."

Hey, he's just trying to do his part, everyone! Now, Nancy Cross and Morgan Burke want you to step up and do your part.

I'm also struck by the idea of cheering for any team for over eight decades, let alone one that can be as maddening as Purdue football. This is not to say we won't be cheering for Purdue into our golden years -- it's just that at the rate the team has been aging us, we probably won't make it as long as Mr. Bimel has. Considering he's been cheering for the Boilermakers for that long, he looks pretty spry.